Zimbabwe establishes monetary policy committee in stability bid

News2412 Sep 2019, 00:40 GMT+10

Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has established a Monetary Policy Committee in his latest attempt to stabilise an economy in freefall.

The former economics professor, appointed last year to get the economy out of a two-decade rut, named a nine-member panel consisting of academics, bankers and the governor and two deputy governors of the nation's central bank.

Ncube reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar, which the country had abandoned in 2009, and banned the use of foreign currency in June. The unit, a precursor of which was tied to the U.S. dollar at parity in February, is now trading at 11.99 to the dollar.

"Until their terms of reference are clarified, it's difficult to gauge how effective the monetary policy committee will be," he said. "For example, if there is a vote on interest rates, does each member have one vote?"

The board will be chaired by John Mangudya, the central bank governor. He will be deputized by Katsande.